Porch Stories

Bruce Nelson grew up in a small black community where he pitched watermelons, picked cotton, swam in the neighborhood canals, and attended the segregated Booker T. Washington School, in Mesa, AZ. The neighborhood was known as North Town. In 1994 Bruce stumbled into Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center located in Venice Beach, California. The eclectic atmosphere nudged him into attending their weekly writing workshops and performances. He was always eager to share his poetry and short stories with classes. So, when Nelson secured the position as Artistic Director for Saban Free Clinic's Project ABLE (An educational theater troupe) he was primed to write one-act plays. During his six years as Artistic Director, he received three LA Cultural Affairs grants to write a series of one-act plays that were performed in Los Angeles County for adolescents in alternative schools, youth hostels, prisons, homeless shelters, middle schools, high schools, and youth conferences. His one-act play Anansi and the Sky God was accepted into the Play Lab at the Last Frontier Theater Conference in Valdez, Alaska. Porch Short Stories is Bruce Nelson's first book